The presidential race has began churning at full force. The field is full of regulars and surprises, and conventional wisdom regarding election patterns have been thrown out the window as radical thinkers change the way candidates act and succeed.

No candidate has done more to disrupt the status quo than multi-millionaire and reality TV star Donald Trump, whose antics would appear almost comical if he weren’t doing so well in the national polls.

On Sept. 14, Trump came to the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas to give a speech in front of a riveted crowd in the heartland of Republican America. Many Lovejoy students took the opportunity to view the political process in action with free tickets and went to watch Trump’s rally. I got the opportunity to go, and embrace the fervor of his campaign in person.

Trump’s success has been shocking, as his willingness to go beyond political-correctness makes him either endearing or uncouth, depending on who you ask. His comments have ranged from misogynist to racist, and it’s hard to see someone like that leading the world’s melting pot.

Trump’s rally consisted of a heavy dose of nationalist rhetoric, and his actual policies seemed to be less important than his personal qualities and the success of his TV show The Apprentice. More than focusing on his own advantages, he spent time decrying the leaders of today, highlighting Obama’s failures as a president and forewarning the impacts of a potential Clinton or Bush back in the presidency.

Trump’s stance on immigration is controversial, and involves building a wall on the border with Mexico. The wall’s planning, requiring Mexico to pay for it, seems unfounded. Trump consistently refers to illegal immigrants as harbingers of destruction and lawlessness, something which alienates much of the populace who takes a more sympathetic approach towards illegal immigrants and who don’t see such negative generalizations holding ground.

Whereas some construe his anti-immigration policies as racist, some view it as bold and necessary in a time of weak-willed leaders who focus too much on appeasement and less on adequate action.

These divisions manifested themselves outside of the rally, where Trump supporters exiting the arena were met by a large protest crowd. The crowd comprised of two-thousand people, who stayed put while the rally’s massive twenty-thousand person crowd moved by. The crowd chanted in Spanish and held Mexican flags, while signs proclaimed that the Trump supporters were “racists disguised as patriots.”

The rally was peaceful, yet filled with emotion fueled by cultural differences. I loved the feeling of going straight from a rally to a protest of that same rally, in a sick kind of political irony.

The rally didn’t seem to change much in terms of Texas’ love for Trump, which will stay steady while the battle for the election is fought in the swing states. The election right now is tight, and Trump notably stayed away from mentioning his main competitor in the race, Bernie Sanders.

While Trump took the time to attack leading Democrat Hillary Clinton and most of his fellow Republican nominees, he never once mentioned Sanders, leading to the question of what threat he may seem to pose to Trump’s chances, and if the final election will truly end up being a battle between two total opposite ends of the political spectrum.

“There is a problem in America in the beliefs of Donald Trump. The only solution is Bernie,” said senior Jolen Martinez, after sitting through two hours of Trump’s rally.

The divisions which exist between Americans do a lot to show just how varied America’s belief system is. Sanders and Trump are as opposite as they come, and yet they both find ways to succeed.

While the rally was very enjoyable, and I can see the charisma which leads to Trump’s symbol as a spectacle, I cannot wait until November when I can cast a vote against him, for the sake of voting down his sexist and racist comments. America is right to have its different ideas, but there’s no reason for a leader to alienate part of its populace.

For those who went to the Trump rally, they didn’t have time to ponder such things. Getting back at 10:30 on a Monday night, they were ready for school the next morning, where Trump was still ahead in the polls, and the only difference was the number of pictures on some students’ iPhones.